My reward for finishing this semester will be the movie Eragon. It comes out December 15th, the day of my last final. It will be in the tradition of the LoTR movies, which conveniently came out at the end of finals weeks in our last couple years at Asbury. It was our motivation during cram-sessions at 2 in the morning.
(We dressed up for the first movie--how dorky does that make us? Jenni & Sue were elves, and I was a Ringwraith because all I had was black clothes).

This is something Dad needs to do : create a wishlist at amazon.com For example, check out my list (note that this is not a hint for Christmas gifts). Go to amazon.com, hover your mouse over the Find Gifts button and type in my email in the Find someone's wishlist box.
Just search for books you're interested in, click on the "add to my wishlist" button for each book, and you're done -- and now other people can easily get things for you ..

Just an idea.

I don't know how we do it, but our account has remained stable, despite paying out extra extra $ for my second class at UK (tuition jumped double digits this year). I must take after my parents, who hardly spend money on anything extraneous. I look at $10 shirts at Target and debate whether I really ought to get one. I spend 10 minutes at a used bookstore contemplating whether I should purchase a $3 book. I wait to get home and eat a bowl of cereal rather than stop on the road for lunch.

I don't have anything exciting to report ... just trying to keep my habit of filling up this blog (even if it means putting in our Christmas wish list) ...

There's a new used bookstore that opened up in Lexington : Half-Priced Books, or something like that. Their range of books was quite impressive. Though not on the scale of the used bookstore in Milwaukee, nonetheless Half-Priced Books reminded me of it.

Check out this website: http://www.catsthatlooklikehitler.com/

Click on the "best kitlers" button in the lefthand column to see some truly odd hairless cats.

Christmas present ideas :

for Jon-
-giftcard to Performance Bicycle (website)
-hiking long underwear (if you so desire, I can purchase the items here and you can pay me back)
-cloth cycling cap with some steel company logo on it (I can't think of the name)

for Laura-
-The ladies of grace adieu, Susanna Clarke
-Money for clothes and shoes. Or we can go shopping while we're home. I don't care.

for us-
B&N giftcard
Target giftcard (good idea to suggest to Grandma if she insists on getting us something)

Sorry we don't have any more original ideas, but it's better to stick to what we need/really want rather than come up with some silly ideas.

Hope this helps.

Here's an image from Google Earth of some mountaintop removal areas in Kentucky.

This is a very sensitive issue. Anybody looking at the pictures, or who has seen a leveled mountain, is quick to decry mountaintop removal. (Jon and I have seen some non-existent mountains first-hand in Virginia). You have to look hard to find areas of mountaintop removal. The companies are smart and keep one ridge of pretty trees between their operations and most major roads.

Yet we continue to use the very thing that fuels this practice.

A new book is out that I would like to read very much: The Book of Lost Things, by John Connolly. The covor alone is thrilling. It's amazing how much latent memory we can associate with certain things. I saw book somewhere of Grimm's fairy tales that had paper-cut scenes illustrating particular fairy tales, that struck me, apparently deep inside, since the cover of this new book has compelled me to read it. Another latent memory: when Jon and I first started dating, he always wore a wristwatch, a practice that fell off the longer we got to know each other. Then the other day, he put it on and when I saw it on him, I was immediately broadsided with memories of our first months together.

I fixed the one particular javascript problem, but now I have a problem with a php script. I think it has something to do with how I've phrased the location for the php script to load into, or where I wrote the location. I don't know because the professor hasn't talked about it, so I'm rather impressed I even got part of the php script to work.

This is making my brain flip inside out.

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America to Make Benefit the Glorious Nation Kazakstan :
uncomfortably, bitingly funny. There are some scenes Jon and I thought were overlong and rather unnecessary (the 2 men fighting, in particular. I leave it at that because it is a scene that will never leave you for the rest of your life), but there were some telling scenes.
The one where he sings the national anthem in a Virginian rodeo was unnerving. He started by saying he was in favor of the war, that we need to fight the terrorists, etc. The crowd cheered. He said we should never rest until all the terrorists have been killed. More cheering. Then he shouts, "We will never rest until the blood of every man, woman, and child has been shed." The crowd erupted in cheering.
I would not recommend this movie for everyone, but for those who appreciate satire, it was very good.

I hate computers.

I have been trying and trying to create a simple "mouseover" effect in javascript. What is supposed to happen is when the mouse hovers over a particular image in my webpage, a new image is supposed to load, for the whistle and bangs effect, then revert to the original image when the mouse moves away.

There must be some little comma or imperative word that I am leaving out, even though I have copied scripts verbatim from the internet. Maybe my computer is having a laugh.

Abbi tells me that the IT person at her work reads computer codes for recreational reading. I can't imagine.

(It's an animal theme...)

There are skunks laying on the road, plumes of gore spilling elegantly from their sides, like crimson sashes falling open. I can't help but notice how many of these unfortunate victims lay as if asleep, undamaged paws tucked under their furry chins.

That smoky cat that lives in the nice house several doors down was lurking in the landscaping, its wispy fur mingling with the color of the dark earth so much that I double-checked to see whether I was imaging those yellow eyes floating in the bush. He appeared slightly miffed that I saw him, and turned his head to watch me pass, triangle of pink tongue delicately pinpointing his chin. (Everytime I see him, his tongue is sticking out...)

One day we thought we had lost Pope and were checking and rechecking the closets and under the bed and chairs in mounting panic (for he almost always comes dashing out whenever we call his name). As a last resort, I started poking the tangled bedsheets and uncovered his nest. He had burrowed into the covers and made a flannel cave exactly his size and shape. When I lifted the sheets to peer in, heat radiated out in waves.

It was multicultural day in the paddock today. Camels, llamas, and cows were all grazing together in a field that I pass every time I drive to Frankfort.

It's always startling, no matter how many times I've already seen it, to round the bend and see that camel, sturdy hump casting a long shadow in the rising sun. One day it was watching the daily commute, its long neck snaked over the edge of the fence.

I sleepwalked (sleptwalked?) last night. I got up around midnight and yanked the sheets off the bed. I don't remember getting up, but I do remember waking up to find myself standing at the end of the bed, holding an armful of sheets. Jon says he woke up, asked me what I was doing, I replied "I don't know," and went back to sleep.

It's unnerving that our bodies can do things while we are unaware.